And the first new episode of the year didn't fail to deliver a moment that we did not see coming: Victoria sacrificing herself in place of Ivy in Mother Gothel's ritual, in order to bring Lucy back to life.

It was an unexpected moment of selflessness for the character, played by Gabrielle Anwar, who was initially billed as this season's big bad. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the show's bosses explained their reasoning behind the decision.

ABC

"The show is about how evil is made, it's not born," said executive producer Edward Kitsis.

"We see that Gabrielle originally was trapped in the tower and became this villain, and yet in this moment what we wanted to do is [show that] the relationship between Ivy and her was a tough mother-daughter relationship, but when it really came down to it, she wasn't willing to sacrifice it.

"At the end of the day, she was able to reclaim who she was. That's always been a message on the show, which is, this is not a show where we expect you to be perfect, this is a show where we all say, 'Everyday we make mistakes, but it's how you come back from them,' so we felt like that was a fitting ending.

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK
Digital Spy participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.